PORT OF THE MONTH By Richard Varr um B.C. The , opened in 2009 and an active archae- thens breathes history thanks to reminders at nearly every street ological site, boasts an outstanding collection of youthful male and corner. From almost any vantage point, views of the Doric- and female statues known as, respectively, kouroi and korai. And the AIonic-columned temples of the hilltop Acropolis are hard to miss, Ancient Agora’s is home to key finds from antiquity. especially when illuminated at night. Greek god figurines cram store Cruise travelers embark their ships at —a port since ancient shelves alongside hand-painted Greek vases, Byzantine-style icons and times—located a bout six miles southwest of the city. Also serving cargo Spartan helmet souvenirs. For visitors to this capital city, considered the vessels and daily ferries to the Aegean islands and other destinations, cradle of Western civilization, it doesn't take long before three things the port is the largest in and one of the Mediterranean’s busiest, become apparent: ruins, artifacts and the colorful trappings of traditional serving upwards of one million cruise ship passengers and 20 million Greek culture. total passengers each year. Port statistics show 643 cruise ship calls in While the first two are set in stone, so to speak, at the many archaeo- 2019. Each terminal has tourist bus parking for shore excur sions organ- logical sites and museums, what makes a visit even more memorable is ized by the cruise lines or local tour operators. Tour choices range from the immersive cultural environment. From restaurants with classic Greek highlights to farther-afield sites such as the seaside Temple of cuisine, for example, waft aromas of grilled souvlaki. One hears the Poseidon at Cape Sounion and Temple of Apollo at ancient Delphi, and unmistakable plucking sounds of the eight-stringed bouzouki in back- places on the Peloponnese peninsula. The most popular option is a city ground music. Packages of Kalamata olives, spices for flaky tiropitas tour that heads straight to Athens’ signature tourist attraction, the (triangular pastries) and keftedes (meatballs), and boxes of honey-soaked Acropolis, with stops at museums and in the Plaka, or Old Town. baklava hang from racks in shops along busy pedestrian streets. ATHENS In fact, no trip to Greece would be complete without a stop to see the Although the city’s archaeological sites with their stone columns Acropolis’ aging temples. The main structures were built during the and chipped ruins continue to gradually crumble from industrial pollu- Classical period in the 5th century B.C., considered the pinnacle of tion and weather, the Greeks have saved countless precious artifacts ancient Greek civilization, a time when Plato, Socrates and other that offer vivid glimpses of ancient civilizations, r emnants showcased philosophers walked Athens’ streets. in several world-class museums. Dominating the display cases are “The meaning of Acropolis comes from akro, which means high, and painted Greek vases—some so well preserved that it's hard to believe po lis, which means city,” explains tour guide Koula Vasiliki. “The ruins they’re 3,000-plus years old. The National Archaeological Museum, were within a religious area for worship of the goddess Athena. The Greece’s largest museum, has artifacts dating back to the 7th millenni- Greeks used to gather with celebrations during summer holidays with games for the gods.”

Standing on the highest point of the Acropolis, the Parthenon, built between 447 and 438 B.C., is Greece’s greatest Doric temple and a monument to its place in history as one of the finest temples in the ancient world. Richard Varr

GATEWAY TO ANCIENT GREECE AND THE AEGEAN ISLANDS

Cruise Travel March/April 2020 Cruise Travel March/April 2020 10 11 As seen in Cruise Travel® magazine, March/April 2020; © 2020, Lakeside Publishing Co., LLC, Gurnee, Illinois, USA; all rights reserved; used with permission; www.cruisetravelmag.com Photos by Y. Skoulas/Greek National Tourism Organization Richard Varr Richard Varr

Must-see sights in Athens include the Parliament building in Syntagma Square (shown here with Lycabetus Hill) and Temple of Olympian Zeus. The Erechtheion, distinguished by its Porch of the Caryatids, is one of the most memorable sights at the Acropolis. The statues are replicas.

Reaching the flattened hilltop involves a politics and government activities. Highlights talkative politicians. with the feel of a Cycladic village, was settled store owner.) Perhaps my most unusual find icons. One shows me what he claims is a 115- moderate hike. Once at the top, beware of include the rounded Tholos, where Athens’ The Plaka and adjacent Monastiraki neigh- in the 19th century by Peloponnesian War was a chess set with Greek gods and a round year-old Zeus sculpture (priced at 120 euros), uneven and worn rocky pathways that have City Council met, and the hilltop Temple of borhood make up Athens’ pulsing historic refugees from the island of Anafi, just east of board. (“This is an ancient Greek game while another wants 10 euros for a small become slippery even in dry conditions. Hephaistos, the Agora’s best-preserved struc- center, where views of the Erechtheion— Santorini. played like chess, but you have to think of it Athena figure alongside a most unusual, hand- Visitors first walk through the Roman-era ture. The reconstructed Stoa of Attalos, an especially striking when bathed in floodlights in circles, which makes it more difficult. The sized metal fly. Curving metal olive branches Beule Gate and then uphill again to at night—dominate the cityscape. onastiraki sits just northwest of the Old best players in the world practice with this,” have become a popular jewelry choice with the Propylaea, a grand entrance adja- Along the narrow streets and city Town, its streets skirting clusters of says the saleswoman.) How to play it? women as hair decorations, which I find along- cent to the small and well-preserved squares is a sprinkling of Byzantine Mboth ancient Greek and Roman ruins, includ- Instructions are included. side bracelets with eye designs. “It protects Temple of Athena Nike, built as a churches—small chapels emblazoned ing the Roman Agora with the remarkably On a nearby street rimming the grounds of you from bad energy,” says the vendor selling tribute to the defeat of Persian with saintly icons in stone interiors. well-preserved 1st-century B.C. Tower of the the Ancient Agora, vendors clutter tabletops the bracelets. “If someone thinks bad things invaders. Dominating the plateaus i Dating back to the 12th century A.D., Winds. The octagonal, 40-foot-high marble with yet more goddess statues, jewelry, leather about you, it reflects it back.” the colossal Parthenon, one of the Panagia Gorgoepikoos is dwarfed structure was built as a water clock and weath- handbags, crosses, watches, old coins and Among ancient Greece’s greatest struc- world’s greatest temples, which once next to the Mitropolis, the marble- er vane with carved caricature reliefs repre- housed a 40-foot-high chryselephan- walled, 19th-century Cathedral, senting winds blowing in from different direc- tine (gold and ivory) statue of the which is the official church of the tions. Nearby, stately Corinthian columns Cruising the Aegean goddess Athena, the city’s namesake. Bishop of Athens. The centerpiece of remain from Roman Emperor Hadrian’s No trace of the statue remains today, a small square along the grand pedes- Library, a 2nd-century A.D. complex. Like a Greek but a smaller Roman-era version is in trian Ermou Street is the 11th-century Come lunch- or dinnertime, I head to the so- the National Archaeological Museum. Kapnikarea Church, dedicated to called “Souvlaki Row” string of restaurants Ruins of the smaller Erechtheion the saint Empress Ilene, who ruled leading off Monastiraki Square. Outdoor stand on the supposed site where the Byzantium at the turn of the 9th tables with umbrellas and awnings line the nar- gods Poseidon and Athena battled for century. A short walk down Ermou row, courtyard-like street as diners flock for naming rights to the city. The high- Varr Richard leads to Monastiraki Square and the skewers of grilled chicken, pork, lamb and light is the Porch of the Caryatids with Tourists throng the Plaka, Athens’ atmospheric Old the domed, 10th-century Pantanassa beef. Gyros sandwiches stuffed with onions, six figures of maidens as supporting Town district filled with tavernas and souvenir shops. Church. tomatoes, tzatziki sauce and french fries are columns. All the statues are replicas, The 11th-century Nikolaos cheap, costing $3 or $4 and often enough for with the originals in the Acropolis Museum. elongated building lined with Roman and Ragkavas is another popular church in the two meals. My favorite restaurant on Souvlaki Also key to Athens’ Classical period was Greek statues, now serves as a museum with Plaka, with nearby streets leading up to the Row is O Thanasis, where my moussaka por- the Ancient Agora, now mostly ruins. This many of the site’s remarkably preserved arti- twisting alleyways of the whitewashed tion crowded the plate along with a fresh toma- complex of temples and civic buildings, eas- facts—burial urns, voting chips and even a Anafiotika neighborhood just below the steep to-and-cucumber salad dressed with olive oil, Celestyal Cruises ily visited on foot, was a center for business, sophisticated water clock used for timing slopes of the Acropolis. This cozy district, onion slivers and spices. Celestyal Cruises’ two ships sail to the Greek Islands and elsewhere in the Mediterranean. From the square, an overhead sign leads Many shops are stocked with figurines alluding to Greece’s Classical period and hand-painted vases such as those at Workshop Electra Raikos. he only Greek-based cruise line, Celestyal Cruise Director Tereza Alerizou. “People get the way to Athens’ lively flea market, a shop- T Cruises offers a number of Greek Islands involved—they smile and laugh, enjoy and eat.” per’s dream. I walk the narrow street and itineraries from the on In the Aegean, Celestyal offers seven-night peer into shop after shop with figurines of two medium-sized ships—the 966-passenger sailings and quick-paced, three- and four- Greek gods, philosophers, centaurs and ser- and 1,450-passenger night itineraries of the Greek Islands, including Celestyal. “It’sCrystal a family-like ship, so the Celestyalcrew and Mykonos, Santorini, Crete, Rhodes, Patmos pent-tailed Medusas. Icons line the walls Olympia above the racks of souvenir Achilles helmets. passengers become very close,” says Crystal and Milos. The cruise line branched out last fall Hand-painted vases are big business as many Captain Nikolaos Vasileioy. with new seven- night “Eclectic” itineraries that Celestyal also takes pride in offering pas- include Istanbul; Volos, Greece, for excursions family-owned businesses take pride in their sengers what it calls true cultura l immersion, to the mountaintop monasteries of Meteora; replicas of museum artifacts depicting such which I certainly experienced last fall aboard Canakkale, Turkey, for excursions to Troy and mythological tales as Homer’s poems Iliad the on Celestyal’s new “Eclectic Aegean” Gallipoli; and the Greek islands of Crete, and Odyssey or Athena’s and Poseidon’s itinerary.Crystal Shouts of echo through the Santorini and Mykonos. Also new are seven- quest to be the city’s namesake. main lounges during“Opa!” Greek dance lessons, night “Three Continents” cruises calling at A music store sells six- and eight-string onboard lectures unveil 5,000 years of Greek Alexandria and Port Said (Cairo), Egypt; Ashdod, bouzoukis, the lute-like instrument key to the history before arrival in ports of call and cheese- Israel; Kusadasi (for Ephesus), Turkey; Limassol, filled are featured during Greek cook- Cyprus; a nd the Greek island of Rhodes. distinctive sound of Greek folk music. tiropitas Another shop sells icons on silk. (“We put ing lessons. “Guests have the opportunity to For more information on Celestyal Cruises, taste, and after that we have a lecture on using log on to www.celestyalcruises.com/en/cruises. them on the back of doors, the top of the bed,

Richard Varr Richard olive oil instead of butter,” says Assistant —Richard Varr Richard Varr in the car or anywhere in the house,” says the Cruise Travel March/April 2020 Cruise Travel March/April 2020 12 13 Know Before You Go AIDA, Azamara, tures, the Temple of Olympian Zeus was the Celebrity,Cruise Lines Celestyal, That Costa, Call: Crystal, Cunard, largest, although it was actually completed Hapag Lloyd, Holland America, Marella, by the Romans more than 600 years after MSC, Norwegian, Oceania, P&O, Princess, construction started in the 6th century B.C. Pullmantur, Regent Seven Seas, Royal Caribbean, Seabourn, SeaDream, Silversea, The temple, with only 15 of the original 104 Star Clippers, TUI, Viking and Voyages to Pentelic marble Corinthian columns remain- Antiquity. ing today, once housed both a statue of Zeus Cruise termi- and Roman Emperor Hadrian, who commis- Portnals have Passenger lockers, Services: cafes, free Wi-Fi, duty- sioned its rebuilding. The emperor also com- free shops, currency exchange booths, taxi missioned the building of his namesake and limousine services, nearby metro and Hadrian’s Arch, just opposite the temple, in public bus access, and free transport buses 131 A.D. to mark the boundary of ancient between terminals. Greek Athens from the New City of Hadrian. Cruise ships dock at three terminals with a total of 11 berths, including those able to Today, Corinthian columns top the well-pre- handle the largest new-generation mega- served arch that, like many of Athens’ vener- liners. Terminal A (Miaoulis), the main ter- able structures, reflects a golden glow in the minal, is in walking distance of the Piraeus waning sunlight. city center and the metro station with trains From the arch, I cross traffic-choked Varr Richard to central Athens and the airport. Terminal Andrea Syngrou Avenue to enter the Old City The elite Evzone guards create a spectacle B (Themistocles) sits at the port’s edge and once more, walking just a block or so to at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. is adjacent to Terminal C (Alkimos). Lysikrates Square. The centerpiece of a small plaza of ruins, the round Lysikrates Monument While Athens is usually the hands-down with its Corinthian columns was built in 334 day-trip destination for cruise ship passen- A.D. as a tribute to the sponsor of a group of gers, Piraeus bustles with its own open-air actors performing at the Acropolis’ Theatre of restaurants, a food market and a flea market Dionysus. The area around the square now amidst neoclassical architecture. Piraeus’ bustles with outdoor restaurants and shops, Archeological Museum includes 4th- and including Workshop Electra Raikos, a store- 6th-century B.C. bronze statues of Athena, front business selling both icons and hand- Artemis and Apollo pulled from surrounding painted vases of mostly museum replicas. waters in 1959. Adjacent to the museum is “Vases with decorative artworks were used the Hellenistic-period Theater of Zea with its for everyday living in ancient Greece, for well-preserved orchestra area from the 2nd- storing water, olive oil and wine,” explains century B.C. With models of ships, maps and store owner Mikas Raikos, who shows me a uniforms, the Hellenic Maritime Museum Richard Varr newspaper article about his son, who paints traces the port’s ancient history through many of the replicas. He then reveals a photo Wor ld War II. At Monastiraki Square, one of the busiest of a museum vase that was copied and now is For those with extra time to spend before or spots in Athens, sits Pantanassa Church. on his store shelf. “This one is from Troy with after a cruise, ferries and hydrofoils depart Athens is situated on a peninsula Location: Achilles, Hector and Paris,” he explains. from the Port of Piraeus to more than 20 Greek jutting out into the Aegean Sea in southern “Every piece has a different history.” islands, some close enough for an overnight Greece. 665,000 within the city proper Just outside Old Town, Syntagma Square stay or even a day trip. For example, it’s a half- Population:and 3.75 million in the metropolitan area. is central Athens’ chief transportation hub for hour to Aegina, where the 5th-century hilltop Greek, but English is widely catching hop-on, hop-off buses and both the Temple of Aphaia is one of the best-preserved spokenLanguage: in tourist areas. Metro and buses to Athens’ Eleftherios Doric temples in all of Greece. An hour-and-a- Euro. Venizelos International Airport and the Port half away is Hydra, unique because it has Currency:Athens enjoys a relatively mild of Piraeus. Adjacent to Greece’s Parliament banned motorized traffic, leaving visitors to Weather:Mediterranean climate with average winter building, it’s a popular spot for protests and explore by foot, donkey or water taxi. temperatures in the 40s and 50s Fahrenheit demonstrations. Just below the front walls of First-time visitors with just a day to spare and warm summers reaching into the 90s. Parliament sits the Tomb of the Unknown most likely will spend it in the heart of The hottest months are July and August; it feels especially scorching when visiting the Soldier, with the Changing of the Guards Athens, where enriching lessons in Greek his- Acropolis, where there’s little or no shade. ceremony on Sunday mornings featuring the tory and culture await. Lucky are those for Save money with the 30- slow-stepping Evzone guards in their tradi- whom Athens is a turnaround port—just thinkCT Sightseeingeuro Combination Tip: Ticket to the Acropolis and tional pleated kilt uniforms. of all the pre- and post-cruise options. other historic sites (about $34) during the The majesty of the Acropolis, as seen from the Ancient Agora, never fails to awe visitors. summer months. Normal summer admission to the Acropolis alone is 20 euros, but the Combination Ticket also includes entry to the Ancient Agora, Hadrian’s Library, Roman Agora, the cemetery and museum at , and the Olympieon with the ruins of the colossal Temple of Olympian Zeus. Winter admission rates are half of sum- mer rates, but not for the Combination Ticket. Athens’ Tourist InformationTourist Information: Center is located just south of the Acropolis, adjacent to the Acropolis Museum. (www.thisisathens.org). For infor- mation on other parts of Greece, log on to the Greek National Tourism Organization’s website, www.visitgreece.gr. Varr Richard

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